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Media Coverage

Sean Whelan Comments on Law Firms Relocating Back-Office Tasks

Source: Wall Street Journal

Media Coverage

10.07.12

Sean Whelan, Pillsbury’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer for the Nashville Operations Center, is quoted in an article discussing the trend many law firms are following, by bringing back-office positions to more affordable cities. More firms are moving billing, human resources, marketing and information technology among other functions, from the nation’s biggest cities to less expensive locations, embracing tactics their corporate clients adopted years ago.

In August, Whelan moved his family to Nashville, Tennessee from Washington, D.C., so he could oversee the creation of an operations center for Pillsbury’s 700 lawyer firm. The operations center will ultimately house 160 workers, with the idea to combine teams that perform the same tasks. According to Whelan, Pillsbury hopes this will produce better results than having workers spread out in offices across the country.

“We had people in San Francisco, New York and Washington, D.C., doing billing,” Whelan said. “Collaboration and coordination just don’t work as well.”

The relocation to Nashville offers significant savings on rent and salaries, he said. Pillsbury also can tap into the area’s college educated workforce to fill slots left empty by employees who declined to relocate.

Tags
Sean Patrick Whelan, Nashville